Charles I: Relations and disputes with Parliaments - Foreign Policy Flashcards
Who made the 1624 ‘Happy Parliament’ a success?
The architect of the Happy Parliament’s success as the only well-managed Parliament of James’ reign was Prince Charles and Buckingham
What did the Happy Parliament suggest for Charles’ reign?
The ‘Happy Parliament’ suggested, on the surface at least, that Charles would enjoy good relations with Parliament
What error did Charles and Buckingham make that gave Parliament an opportunity?
Charles and Buckingham unwittingly encouraged Parliament to believe that it now possessed important powers
What important powers did Parliament believe they possessed following the Happy Parliament?
- the right to dispose of government ministers
- to initiate foreign policy
- to control the Crown’s expenditure
How was Charles’ relationship with Parliament doomed to fail?
The alliance between Charles-Buckingham and Parliament would not survive the tests which the need to finance military intervention in the Thirty Years’ War, hated of Buckingham and divisions over religion would pose
What did James intend Mansfield to do?
It was intended that Mansfield would take an English force through French territory in order to recover the Palatinate for Frederick V
What did the French King Louis XIII wish to have?
The French King Louis XIII wished to have Mansfield’s forces give help to the Dutch against the Spanish - and there refused to allow the Mansfield expedition to land in France, making it impossible for Mansfield to reach the Palatinate
Where were Mansfield’s army sent to in late January 1625?
In late January 1625, Mansfield’s army of 6,000 raw recruits were sent without supplies to Holland
What happened to 4,000 of Mansfield’s army in Holland?
4,000 of Mansfield’s soldiers withered away through sickness and starvation without accomplishing anything
How did the political nation react to the 1625 Mansfield’s expedition?
The political nation was upset at this turn of events - especially as the 1624 Parliament had actually granted funds for a naval war, rather than a land campaign
What did the Mansfield’s expedition mean Charles’ first Parliament would do?
This meant that Charles’ first Parliament would seek to obtain more effective control over foreign and military policy
What were Charles two objectives in foreign policy?
A French alliance and a naval war with Spain
What were Charles’ foreign policy aims for Frederick V?
- Charles wished to provide his brother-in-law Frederick V with practical assistance to recover the Palatinate
- He aimed to provide Mansfield with the sum of £20,000 per month so that he could commence military operations in the Netherlands, before moving into Germany
What were Charles’ foreign policy aims for his Lutheran uncle Christian IV of Denmark?
Charles promised his Lutheran uncle Christian IV of Denmark the sum of £30,000 per month, so that he could engage in military operations in northern Germany
What did Charles want to mount against Spain?
Charles also wanted to mount a joint military and naval expedition against the Spanish mainland
What was the central problem for Charles’ foreign policy aims?
- His inability to secure the confidence and financial support of the political elite
- demonstrated by successive parliaments who were called for war and yet refused to grant enough money for it
How much did Charles need to fund a war against Spain?
£1 million
What did this mean Charles needed from Parliament?
He required a fresh injection of parliamentary funds, as the money provided by the 1624 assembly had now been largely spent
What did Charles need to show his continental allies?
Charles needed to demonstrate to his continental allies that he had the support of Parliament (and, therefore, of the country)
When was the first session of the 1625 Parliament?
June 1625
How much did Parliament actually provide Charles with in the first session of the 1625 Parliament?
Parliament granted Charles two subsidies - roughly £140,000 - with no strings attached - but not enough for an effective war
- outraged Charles by breaking with precedent and denying him Tonnage and Poundage for life, granting it only for 1 year
Why did Parliament only grant Charles tonnage and poundage for 1 year?
- Charles didn’t explain his position clearly enough
- Parliament wanted to retain control over the Crown’s income
- James’ exploitation of prerogative forms of income (especially impositions) made Parliament sensitive that the monarchy would no longer need him
- Parliament’s desire to maintain financial leverage over Charles after fiscal mismanagement of James
How did Charles react to not receiving T+P for life?
- It was a source of conflict between Char;es and Parliament as Charles saw this as a direct attack on his prerogative
- Charles continued to collect the customs duties that Parliament had not sanctioned, unconstitutional and provocative, bypassing parliamentary authority in favour of prerogative
How was Buckingham viewed by the political nation?
Almost universally detested
What did Sir Edward Coke say about Buckingham?
‘the cause of all our miseries’
What evidence is there of the political nation gunning for Buckingham?
In the 1621 Parliament, when it revived the medieval practice of impeachment and impeached James’ Lord Chancellor, Francis Bacon, on charges of corruption
- Bacon was the protege of Buckingham, so this was essentially an attack on Buckingham
- the campaign against Bacon was led by Sir Edward Coke; Buckingham had encouraged this, in order to deflect attention from his own activities
What did Buckingham and Charles use the 1624 Parliament for?
Buckingham and Charles had used the 1624 Parliament to derail James’ foreign policy by calling for war with Spain.
- whatever popularity he gained as a result of this was only temporary
- many in the political nation wanted to settle scores with him
What did the arrival of Charles’ new queen Henrietta Maria in June 1625 suggest?
Henrietta Maria’s arrival in June 1625 appeared to suggest that Charles had made significant concessions to English Catholics as part of the French marriage treaty
What was there widespread unease about a condition of the marriage negotiations?
There was widespread unease that the penal laws against Catholics had been relaxed as a condition of the marriage negotiations
What had James promised Louis XIII that made the political nation uneasy?
- The political nation was also uneasy because James had promised Louis XIII the use of a fleet of English ships and sailors
- James and Charles hoped that these would be used to support Mansfield’s operations; however Louis XIII intended to use them against Protestant rebels at La Rochelle
What was the Commons more interested in doing at the ‘Useless Parliament’ in 1625?
The Commons was now more interested in attacking Buckingham
What was Buckingham accused of in the ‘Useless Parliament’ ?
- monopolising power
- refusing to take the advice of a specially appointed council of war
- mismanaging the royal finances
- failing, in his capacity as Lord High Admiral, to defend English merchant shipping from North African pirates
